How to Cut Shapes From Duck Tape

Back in the fall, I found out at the last minute that my son had to have a Duck Tape costume for an event he was attending. I mean, I’m sure I was told before the last minute, but I didn’t remember until it was almost too late.

The costume party theme was “Defy Gravity,” so Zack decided that he wanted to be a space shuttle. Using a white tee shirt and black sweat pants as a base, I made him into the best little space shuttle I could come up with.

Isn’t he adorable? I love this kid!

In the process, I taught myself some things about Duck Tape. First, if sticky side touches sticky side, it’s basically impossible to undo. And if you want to cut it into shapes, all you need is a plastic cutting board and a craft knife. It’s really easy!

Here’s how I make shapes with Duck Tape:

1. Tear off pieces of Duck Tape and stick them to a plastic cutting board. Layer the pieces about 1/4″ inch on top of each other. You can do a strips of the same color or alternate as I did here.

2. You can use a straight edge and an X-Acto knife to cut straight edges on the tape. Just simply peel off the parts you cut off.

You can use this technique to make things like squares, rectangles and triangles.

3. If you want to cut something without straight edges, you can either use a pencil to draw on the tape or just free hand it with the knife. I free handed this heart shape.

It wasn’t quite right, so I just cut on it again. It’s still not perfect, but I did this just for demonstration purposes. 😉

That’s also how I did the flames on Zack’s space shuttle pants. I added the red tape first, and then I put the orange and yellow on top of it.

4. To remove the shape from the plastic cutting board, peel it off from the side of the tape that’s on the lowest level (remember, you layered the tape strips on top of each other). It comes off as one piece and you can use it however you want to!

About Lindsay Ballard

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Jack and Duke). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.

About Makely

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Jack and Duke). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.